LSN : News : 04 : 12 : 19

A dog food brand for dogs, not fur babies

itsdogfood.com branding by Robot Food, UK

UK – Itsdogfood.com is fighting back against the patronising nature of modern pet food branding.

When designing the brand identity, creative studio Robot Food wanted to address the ‘barking’ pet food industry head-on by marketing its products as no-nonsense and transcending typical dog food campaigns that focus on buzzwords such as artisanal, organic and holistic. Instead, the brand is straightforward in its messaging, offering a more nutritious alternative to manufactured protein-based wet food, while keeping prices competitive with a direct-to-consumer subscription model.

‘Our competitors seem to over-justify their high price points by patronising and guilt-tripping dog owners with cutesy animations referring to ‘fur babies’ or describing dogs as ‘ancestral wolves’ that require a primal diet,’ says founder Craig Wallace. ‘We wanted to remove the BS and democratise better quality dog food as the main barrier to trading up until now has been price.’

In a market in which consumers spend billions on their pets, the brand is demonstrating an Anti-authenticity Marketing approach to pet food branding.

Silo elevates the zero-waste restaurant

Silo, London. Photography by Clare Lewington

London – Chef and zero waste pioneer Doug McMaster has relocated his acclaimed Brighton restaurant Silo to London, taking a more high-end approach to sustainable eating.

Taking over a warehouse space in The White Building in London’s Hackney Wick, the restaurant’s zero-waste ethos is threaded throughout its dishes and food supply chains, trading directly with farmers for ingredients and composting leftover scraps.

While Silo seeks to close the loop in the food production process, it also aims to speak to Uneasy Affluence diners. As part of its move, its interior space has been redesigned by Nina Woodcraft, with a focus on high-end, eco-friendly design. Its plastic and leather furniture is made from post-industrial materials, while the counters are formed from upcycled plastic packaging by Smile Plastics.

Silo is just one restaurant thinking on a planetary scale to ensure it does not contribute to the climate emergency.

Facebook is paying users for wellbeing surveys

US – Facebook Viewpoints is a new market research app to improve the social network’s portfolio of products.

The app rewards users for participating in surveys, tasks and research. To take part, users sign up and are invited to join programmes. Facebook will then inform them of what information will be collected and how it will be used.

By taking part in the surveys, users will gain points, which eventually translate into a £3.85 ($5, €4.50) reward paid via PayPal. The first programme launched is a wellbeing survey, which, according to Facebook, will enable the company to better understand how social media affects people’s emotions and how it can ‘limit the negative impacts of social media and enhance the benefits'.

As explored in our microtrend Brand Redemption, technology companies such as Facebook are finding ways to account and atone for their wrongdoings.

Facebook Viewpoints

Stat: Eco-conscious Australians still struggle to change habits

Australians rate the environment as a more important social issue than mental health, education, the ageing population and obesity, according to a new report by Nielsen. The study found that the number of nationals who have a growing concern for the environment increased by 31% in the past year to a total of 1.8m people.

Although Australians have a strong desire to reduce their carbon footprint, their willingness to change habits is weak. To illustrate this, Nielsen reports that just 1,352 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in Australia in 2018, compared to 1.2m in China, 360,000 in the US and 3,682 in New Zealand. As a result, there is an opportunity for automotive manufacturers to inform consumers about the benefits of their vehicles and help them on their sustainability journey, while city planners can do more to improve EV infrastructure.

To see how the mobility sector will transform further to reach eco-conscious consumers in the 2020s, explore our Far Futures series.